Ilorin was a Yoruba town which was originally used as a military outpost by the Alaafin, the supreme ruler of the old Oyo empire (Oyo-Ile). At the period of creation, Ilorin was administered by Afonja, the sixth Are-Ona-Kakanfo of the Oyo army.
Afonja, the sixth Are-Ona-Kakanfo of the Oyo army.
It was from this outpost that Afonja carried out military duty’s for the then Alaafin named Aole.Aole reigned between 1789 and 1796. It was during this period that Shehu Alimi, a Fulani cleric, arrived Ilorin with some of his tribesmen and were all welcomed and hosted by Afonja.
After a while, conflict broke out between Alaafin Aole and Afonja. Alaafin Aole ordered Afonja to attack a town named Iwere-Ile which to Afonja was a suicidal mission and he adamantly refused because a curse was placed by a previous Alaafin on anyone who attacked the land.
While still at disagreement, Alaafin Aole, also called Arogangan (Translated as the mean one), ordered Afonja to attack Apomu, a prominent town in Ile-Ife; this was in 1795. The disagreement heated up to the point that both sides resulted to trash things out with violence.
At this point, Afonja sought the support of the fulani cleric Shehu Alimi also known as Salih Janta as he had both spiritual and military power. Afonja sent an empty calabash to Alaafin Aole signifying his rejection as the Alaafin,thereby requiring him to commit suicide
according to their tradition. Alaafin Aole killed himself but before that, he performed some rituals and cursed the Yoruba land , that all the sons and daughters shall be taken as slaves and sold to different parts of the world.
After defeating Alaafin Aole, Afonja and Alimi’s relationship strengthened to the extent that Afonja enlisted the fulani men into his army and disbanded many of his own men whom history claimed he didn’t fully trust. Unknowing to Afonja,
the Fulanis were gradually infiltrating his army and before he could realize, it was too late. After Sheu Alimi’s death. His son, Abdulsalam, yearned to take over Ilorin and clandestinely plotted against Afonja.
In 1824, Abdulsalam’s men shot Afonja arrows till he breathed his last. He was shot so many arrows that his dead body remained suspended in an upright position for a long while.
So much dread had his personality inspired that the treacherous Jamas whom he had so often led to victory could not believe he was really dead. They continued to shower darts upon him long after he had ceased fighting.
After Afonja’s death, Abdulsalam declared himself the Emir of Ilorin and pledged his allegiance to the Sokoto Caliphate. This is how and why the monarch of Ilorin hold’s the title of Emir till today instead of Oba or any other Yoruba title for a king.
That is how the people Afonja trusted the most,enlisted into the army and gave his ancestral land to betrayed him.
Afterward, the Yorubas attempted to regain control of Ilorin from the Fulani jammas but failed. Toyeje, the successor of Afonja, led the first and second attempts to drive the Fulani people out of Ilorin.
The second attempt is known in history as Mugbamugba war in which Yoruba people suffered untold defeat in the strive to regain the throne of Ilorin.